Counseling for Depression, Trauma & Chronic Pain Management

Dreamwork for Self Understanding and Problem Solving

Welcome to my website! Since you’re here, you may be wondering whether you need therapy, looking for a therapist, or looking for ways to help yourself. Or maybe you’re fascinated by dreams and want to learn more about understanding your dreams. I have included questionnaires to help you decide whether you need to seek professional help such as “Are You Depressed?”. I have included some self-help tools such as “7 Ways to Beat the Blues” and Lifestyle Changes to Dramatically Improve Depression, Anxiety, and Chronic Pain”. In the Dreamwork section, I have included “How to Remember Dreams”, “Easy Steps to Unravel the Essence of a Dream” About Dr. Karen has my resume and location.

AWARD/NEWS:

Do I need therapy?

Therapy is needed when you are unable to function to your own satisfaction or when you function but you are chronically unhappy because of issues such as anxiety or depression, fear or insomnia. Inability to function might occur in any area of life that is important to you: relationships, work, leisure activities. Let’s say there was a traumatic incident or situation in your past. You want to forget it and move on, but it intrudes itself into your life in the form of fears, nightmares and constricted relationships. Or you’re having anxiety attacks that are absolutely horrible in and of themselves, and they interfere with your ability to live your life. Or you feel blah and tired for no reason that you know know of. Nothing is fun anymore, you wake up early in the morning and can’t go back to sleep, or you sleep 12 hours a night and still feel tired, and again, you aren’t functioning very well, and if you feel anything at all, it’s misery. Those are all situations that call for therapy. There are all problems that interfere with functioning and make you feel unhappy. And they are all situations for which therapy can help a lot with both symptoms and functioning.

What do you mean by consultation?

I use the term consultation for meeting about issues that don’t meet the test for misery plus poor functioning. Consultation includes meeting for one or a few sessions to solve a circumscribed problem for psychological testing or for dream work. Maybe you had an incredibly rich vivid dream and you feel that if you could understand it better, its meaning might really enhance your life. Maybe you have a recurrent dream or a nightmare. A recurrent dream, a dream that repeats, often with variations, is trying to tell you something. Your life isn’t miserable and your functioning is good, but it might be very revealing to decipher that dream; it might solve an ongoing problem or reveal something about the way you treat others or about what kind of people you choose in relationships, or reveal a creative gift that you didn’t know you had. Of course, consultation doesn’t have to be about dreams. You might feel that you would like one or two sessions of advice from a neutral, caring professional when you’re going through a big transition or making a major decision.

Depression

Depression is a common problem, one which is under diagnosed and under treated, despite the fact that there are very effective treatments including lifestyle changes, psychotherapy and antidepressant medications. About 15 million adults suffer from major depressive disorder every year, according to a large study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry in 2005. Everyone has low moods, bad days, and periods of grief following losses. If you are unsure whether your low moods cross the line into clinical depression, take my quiz: “Are You Depressed?” Whether you are clinically depressed or struggling with a low mood, you may benefit from “7 Ways to Beat the Blues” and “Lifestyle Changes to Dramatically Improve Depression, Anxiety and Chronic Pain” sections which follow.